Separation Illusion

Interconnection and interdependence are inbuilt realities, intrinsic to the universe.
The plants and animals, sun and moon and all stars of the universe act in accordance with the laws of nature. Mother Earth not only understands that, but functions as a safe abode for her creatures, including us humans. She accommodates the large elephants and the small ants, the poisonous snakes and the harmless reptiles, the tallest giraffe, and the tiniest tortoise.

Since the tortoise is tiny and close to the ground, the Universe made sure it had a protective shell so that it won’t be easily trampled and killed by bigger creatures.

The plants and every other creature comply with the laws of interconnection and interdependence on each other — except humans. We think we are smarter than the Universe, when in fact, we are merely ignorant fools.

Nelson Mandela articulated it well, when he said: “Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, and religion.”

We create divisions between races, cultures, and religions. The root cause of our unhappiness and misery is the mistaken belief that we are separate from the Earth and from other humans.

Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen thinks that:

“We have become a nomadic, homeless species, engulfed in exilic waywardness. We have betrayed our basic identity as children of Mother Earth, and we will only rediscover it in the process of returning home to where we truly belong as cosmic-planetary citizens.”

I believe that our bond with the Earth and everything and everyone on it is imprinted in every fiber of our being and therefore any thought of separation is an illusion.

As Brian Swimme rightly observes, “Communion is built into the very fabric of curved space-time, and in such a universe alienation is a theoretical impossibility!”

Mother earth teaches us a lesson of interconnection, interdependence, and co-existence.

As Buddhadas Bhikkhu clearly points out:

“The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees, and the earth. Our bodily parts function as a cooperative. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative enterprise, that human beings are all mutual friends in the process of birth, old age, suffering, and death, then we can build a noble, even heavenly environment. If our lives are not based on this truth, then we’ll all perish.”

You are never going to be happy and joyful in your earthly life if you refuse to learn that lesson.

In an interconnected cosmos, we don’t have the luxury of remaining in our personal bubble of camouflaged complacency. In an interdependent world, we cannot hide under the mantle of myopia, whine about our woes, wall off a weary world, and live our lives wallowing in our shallow worries.

(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)